Fried Green Tomatoes - Notes from the Sunshine State

One of the things we can always count on when we travel in Florida is a ready supply of fried green tomatoes.   It seems like just about every place that serves good southern cooking offers them in one iteration or another. 

Ripe green tomatoes are a very good source of vitamins A and C and potassium. They also contain iron, calcium, dietary fiber, magnesium, and other minerals.  Frying ripe green tomatoes (not the same as unripe red tomatoes) is the most popular way to cook them, and for good reason.  They are easy to slice then dredge in flour or corn meal after seasoning them with salt and pepper, and quickly fried on each side in shallow bacon fat.  If using cornmeal, the slice tomatoes are often dipped in milk or a beaten egg to help the cornmeal stick to the tomatoes while being fried.  It also allows the coating on the tomato to become thicker and less crunchy when compared to tomatoes cooked without a liquid wash.  The slightly sour flavor is balanced out with the crunchy fried batter.  Regardless of the manner in which they are served, the only other thing you need is a proper dipping sauce, and a Remoulade - rich, and a little spicy - is ideal and they often go with other dishes such as fried catfish, fried chicken, frogs legs, and cheese grits.  

Being a Midwestern lad, I had never even heard of fried green tomatoes until I lived in Florida while I was attending college, and then married a native Florida girl.  Which seems strange as the dish was brought to the US in the 19th century and was frequently served in New England and the Midwest.  The northern adaptations are more likely to use flour rather than corn meal. Their ready association with the South is more recent after the release of Fannie Flagg's 1987 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café.  Flagg based the fictional Whistle Stop restaurant on the real-life Irondale Café in Irondale, Alabama formerly owned by her great-aunt.  The novel was followed by Fried Green Tomatoes, the 1991 film directed by Jon Avnet and based on the novel.  It was nominated for two Oscars at the 64th Academy Awards.

Regardless, I have learned to love fried green tomatoes and I enjoy them whenever and wherever we happen to find them.